Inbetweeners
by KuroKame
Summary: Short stories taking place between various larger events in the One Piece manga and anime.
1. Route to Cocoyashi

I was watching the old arcs of One Piece and reached up to the point in Krieg arc when Usopp, Zoro, Yosaku and Johnny goes after Nami to make her come with Luffy as his navigator. This idea just popped up in my head while I was struggling to finish the latest chapter of "The Seventh Guest", and I thought that it would be nice to write something else for a little while. I'm currently working on The Seventh Guest, and I'll upload the next chapter as soon as it gets done.

Anyway, to stop me from rambling about unimportant things… Basically, these are short stories taking place between the larger events in the manga and/or anime, written simply because I need to reboot my brain after writing eight handwritten pages of The Seventh Guest. Enjoy!

(The ever present) **Disclaimer: **I do not own One Piece in any way, because then I would be working with the manga instead of writing fan fiction, now wouldn't I? No profit is being made from the creation of these stories.

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**The route to Cocoyashi  
**By KuroKame

"_Zoro and I will definitely get Nami back! You just make sure that the cook becomes our nakama. Then we'll make a party of five and head to the Grand Line!"_

When moving away from danger, it's so easy to sound determined and confident. But once the floating restaurant Baratie and the remains of the large battleship were no longer visible from the small boat, the confidence that had taken Usopp's body in possession seemed to creep back into the dark corner of his mind where it usually stayed hidden from the light of day.

The marksman sighed and leaned against the railing of Yosaku and Johnny's boat. He wasn't really feeling worried about Luffy; the captain wasn't going to be beaten by some pushover pirate. Of course, Usopp thought, this particular pushover pirate _was_ known as the King of East Blue…

No. _No._ Usopp slammed his fist against the railing, reminding himself for the umpteenth time what Luffy was capable of. Had he not beaten Krahadol back in Syrup village only a few weeks earlier? Yes, he had, and that meant--

"Aniki!"

Usopp's line of thought was interrupted by a series of rattling coughs coming from behind him followed by shouts of "Hold him down!" and "Calm down, Aniki!", and he turned around to see what was going on.

Johnny and Yosaku were both desperately trying to keep a very non-cooperating Zoro from getting up from the deck, where he had been sleeping ever since they had left the restaurant to follow Nami. Johnny was using his bodyweight to press the swordsman's shoulders against the floor, but it was clear that it wasn't enough to keep Zoro from struggling. Yosaku, who was still looking a bit pale from the scurvy he had recovered from over a week earlier, had thrown himself over Zoro's legs, fighting to keep the struggling swordsman from getting up.

Usopp folded his arms over his chest and watched the struggling trio for a moment with an eyebrow raised. He was just wondering if he would be forced to interfere in a display of great bravery and heroicness when Zoro suddenly stopped struggling. Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other and let go of their friend.

"Zoro-aniki?" Johnny said carefully, eyeing the light rise and fall of Zoro's blood-drenched chest. Zoro's eyebrows were knitted together as he allowed one last fit of coughing slip through his throat. The flow of blood coming from under the bandages covering the deep slash across his chest temporarily grew stronger as his body was tensed, but it eased once he was able to relax again.

"I'm… fine…" he said hoarsely, lifting his head to spit out what appeared to be a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the deck.

Usopp felt how his breakfast threatened to make a second appearance as he started to notice all the blood covering the deck of the small ship. To think that a man had that much blood inside him - and that this particular man was still alive after losing so much of it… Usopp tried to keep the horrible images of Zoro's hopeless battle against the greatest swordsman in the world from flashing before his eyes, but it was all in vain. No matter what he did, he could still see Zoro standing on the shattered battleship they used as a battleground with his arms stretched out to the sides, waiting for the final blow of his opponent, and he could hear Luffy's voice screaming the swordsman's name.

Shuddering, Usopp walked away from the railing and kneeled next to the bucket which served as a first-aid kit, complete with various ointments, a few packs of somewhat sterilized bandages and a large bottle of rum (which already had been almost completely emptied, but not all of it had been used on Zoro's wounds). He poked around in the bucket for a moment, but then he pushed it away with a frustrated sigh.

"No, you're not fine," he said impatiently and turned around to glare at Zoro. "Just look at yourself, you're bleeding all over the place, you have a fever - any normal person would have died ages ago!"

Zoro made a noise that almost sounded like a hoarse laugh and began pulling himself up to a sitting position, even though both Johnny and Yosaku were trying to stop him. Usopp simply watched, still feeling too stunned by the fact that Zoro actually could move with an injury like that. Once Zoro had his back firmly against the wall of the little cabin, he looked up at the sail, which was taken in to prevent it from catching the wind.

"Why aren't we moving?" he asked calmly.

Johnny and Yosaku exchanged looks of guilt.

"Well," Yosaku cleared his throat. "We've studied the maps, and we think that we know where Nami-aneki is going. But--"

Zoro turned his eyes away from the sail and looked at the pale man to his left.

"That doesn't answer my question, Yosaku…" he said, just as calmly as before, but his eyes gleamed threateningly.

"We're coming to that, Zoro-aniki," Johnny continued, beads of sweat forming above the black sunglasses. "Nami-aneki has been keeping a straight course for hours now, and if our calculations are right, she's headed for a really dangerous place."

"Really?" Zoro raised an eyebrow and lifted one hand to run his fingers through his short green hair. "What's so special about that place, then?"

"It's a small island," Yosaku began slowly, but continued at a faster pace as Zoro glanced coolly at him, "but a merman named Arlong resides there, and he's said to be very dangerous. If Nami-aneki is connected to Arlong, there's no way of telling what we can expect to find there. We thought it might be better if we turn back and get Luffy-aniki and cook-aniki--"

"No." The word was spoken with such force that Usopp could hardly believe that he had been the one to say it. He was equally surprised to hear his own voice continue, even if it now trembled a little. "Even if we go back and get them, we don't know for sure that Nami is really going there."

He stopped and thought for a while. There had to be some ways of letting Luffy know where they were going, without having to let Nami out of their sight. The problem was just to figure it out…

"We're still not that far from the restaurant," Yosaku said slowly. "Maybe one of us can swim back there…"

"That's a great idea!" Usopp said, letting his own trail of thought about the matter slip into oblivion.

"The only question is…" Yosaku continued. "Who's going to be the one going back?"

He was met by silence, in which Usopp, Johnny and Zoro all looked at him with their eyebrows raised. Sighing, he gave up on protesting. "Fine, I'll go."

A few minutes later, he was ready to go. Usopp made some last-minute adjustments to the floating gear he had made out of two large pieces of cork and strapped around Yosaku's waist to keep him floating even if he grew tired.

"There," he said and wiped his forehead. "That should hold. Now hurry up and get the others. We'll wait for you on the island."

Johnny patted the not-so-very-excited-looking Yosaku on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just watch out for the Pan sharks, they're really feisty at this time of year."

"Pan sharks?" Usopp said, turning to face Johnny. He was feeling more and more happy that he wasn't the one swimming to get Luffy and the cook.

"Yeah," Johnny said with a shrug. Usopp thought he could see the same relief he was feeling in the other man's face. "It's their mating season now, so they're probably--" he broke off, looking at Yosaku, who suddenly had turned two shades paler. "Of course, the chance of being attacked by one in these waters is almost nonexistent."

Yosaku didn't seem to be calmed by this statement, but he still climbed over the railing and into the cold sea water. As they stood by the railing and watched Yosaku swim back towards the restaurant, Usopp and Johnny both drew a deep sigh of relief. They were startled by a heavy voice coming from behind them.

"Well then, if we're going to see that Arlong-guy, I'll better get this fixed…"

Usopp turned around, his eyes widening as Zoro reached out for the bucket with medical equipment. The swordsman poked around in it for a while until he found what he was looking for: a needle and a roll of thick thread which was normally used to mend sails.

"Zoro…" Usopp felt that his mouth was drying up as he realized what the swordsman was going to do. "What are you--"

"If you plan on fainting, Usopp, I'd advice you to go inside and find something else to do. But if you're not, I need the two of you to assist me, in case I can't do it myself." Zoro looked up at Usopp and Johnny while he bit off a long piece of the thread and tried to stick it through the eye of the needle. "Either way, I can't get that damn woman back if I don't get this stitched up, so what's it gonna be?"

Usopp glanced at Johnny and they exchanged looks of shock before they both walked up to Zoro and kneeled by him. Grabbing the large bottle of rum, Usopp did his best to keep himself from throwing up, even if all the blood was making his head feel really light.

_Luffy,_ he thought as Zoro began to stitch up his own wound. _I hope you're right about Nami. I _really_ hope she's worth it._


	2. One real thing

I think that these short stories/drabbles won't come in the same order as they would have if they had been part of the original story, and I hope that it won't be a problem...I also think that some of the stories will be toldfroma certain character's POV (like thisone) while others will betoldfrom a narrator's POV...

Alright, here's another little thing I wrote late one night (or early one morning, whichever you'd prefer). I don't know if it fits into the whole "inbetween" theme, but it was fun to write.

Disclaimer can be found in the first chapter.

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**One real thing**

By KuroKame

He's standing there, and all I can think of is how _real_ he seems. It's a thought I haven't had in years. Everything around me has been a cloudy haze ever since the day she died, but then this damn kid shows up, and breaks right through the clouds.

The only thing that has been real during these years is her katana. The way it warms the palm of my hand when I draw it from the sheath, and the way it always knows exactly what I want it to do, even before I know it myself. It's always there, spurring me to grow stronger, just like she always did. Only… With her, it was the words she said to me after defeating me over and over again that made me want to get stronger, to show her that I wasn't weak. When I do become the strongest, I can't prove to her face, but I can prove it to her katana. One day, my name will reach the heavens, and then she will know that I've fulfilled our promise.

The pirates and thieves I've defeated in my quest to become the strongest of all swordsmen never seemed real to me. They were there before me, but they felt lifeless, like puppets controlled by some invisible force I've never believed in. I've never cared about the bounties on their heads; all I want is to find better, stronger enemies to test my own strength, to see how much further I had reached.

When I met Johnny and Yosaku, it was different. I saw them and knew that they were a bit different from the bounty hunter-scum I was used to run into out on the roads. They are - and probably always were - quite weak, at least physically. But they're definitely strong at heart, and I guess that's always something.

I've never been looking for a way to improve my way of living. As long as I can get stronger, I won't need anything but maybe food once in a while. I don't need friends. I don't need anyone to look after me. And I definitely don't need anyone to lead me.

He wants me to become a pirate. It has to be one of the most stupid things I've ever heard. This kid must have been told way too many wondrous stories about pirates finding treasure and about adventures all over the world. He doesn't know what the world is like today. I've met many pirates just like him, dreaming of finding some great treasure or living an adventure greater than the world. And their adventures all ended at the blade of my katana.

But still… There's something about him that I've never seen before, except for the fact that he seems to be more real than anything I've encountered in years. He speaks to me without a trace of fear, almost as if he knows something about me that even I don't know yet.

He doesn't understand what I'm doing here. Of course a kid like him wouldn't, he doesn't seem to know much more about the world than your average five-year-old. The hunger doesn't feel real to me, and neither does the feeling of the dry ropes digging into my arms. I have to survive a month out here, because of the villagers, and the promise I made. I will never break a vow, not even to a little Marine brat. I don't care if this little pirate kid wants me to become a pirate or not, I'm not interested in chasing his dream - whatever that may be - when I have my own goal to reach.

He's really getting to me, this kid. Damn little blackmailer, using my katana to get his way. He ran off before I could stop him. What a stupid brat. Who does he think he is, taking on a whole Marine base all on his own? At least he's not here babbling about why I should join him and his pirate clan.

… I can't have seen that. No, definitely not. My eyes usually never play tricks on me, but I simply can't have seen what I just saw. But there is of course… But how could a brat like him have got his hands on one of those cursed things? They're so rare to find in this ocean that they're practically just a legend…

Well, it doesn't matter. No matter what he does, I won't break the vow I made to stand here for a month. If that pirate kid can't accept my decision, I'll just have to convince him myself.

They call me a pirate hunter, a demon in human form. I don't care about any of that. The names keep the opponents coming, and that is all that matters. When this month is over, I'll continue towards my goal.

Only a few more days now… I will not die here.

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_**FieryKitsune** - I know what you mean. Needles are icky. Ew._

_**Sulia Shincho** - I will continue with this, and I have some ideas for future chapters/drabbles. I'm glad you think I kept them in character, I really wanted to keep the mood of the Krieg Arc in the story._

_**Bushido spirit** - Just wanted to say that I really like that alias. I'll try to keep updating._

_**Griever5** - Usopp is one of my favourite characters to write about, because he has so many different moods and little things he does. He doesn't always realize how brave he really can be. But then again, to be brave isn't when you're not afraid of anything. Bravery is when you can overcome fear to do what you must._


	3. Training for the future

**Training for the future  
**By KuroKame

"Luffy, go to sleep."

"I am sleeping."

"No, you're not. You just gave yourself away by saying that."

The boy looked away from the item in his hands and peered through the darkness towards the other end of the small room. Then, he looked back at his newfound treasure and shook his head, almost as if he thought that Ace could see him through the blackness in the room.

"I can't sleep," he said simply.

He could see Ace moving at the other side of the room; the moonlight seeping in through the tiny window fell over the older boy as he reached for something on the table by his bed. There was a spark and then a warm yellow flare lit up the small room. Luffy sat up in his bed, still clutching the straw hat Shanks had given him earlier that evening and looked expectantly at Ace.

"Well, you better sleep, or you can't get up in the morning to start training," Ace said, looking at his younger brother over the flickering candle he held up in front of him. The warm, yellow light cast his shadow over the wall behind him as he put the candle down on his bedside table.

"Training?" Luffy blinked as he looked at Ace. Ace cackled softly, covering his mouth with his hand so that their parents wouldn't hear him.

"Well, yeah," he said, pointing at the hat in Luffy's hands. "I heard that you made a promise on that hat today. To become the greatest pirate, wasn't that what you promised Captain Shanks before he left?"

"Uh-huh," Luffy nodded swiftly and seemed to get even less sleepy by the mention of Shanks' name. "I'm going to find One Piece and become the King of Pirates. Then, I'll find Shanks and return his hat. So I can't lose it. I'm always going to have it with me."

Ace nodded in that wise, all-knowing, older-brotherly way he used when Luffy started to get too hyperactive. It was the easiest and often most effective way to calm Luffy down, since the younger brother usually fell silent to hear if Ace had something interesting to hear. He leaned back against the wall behind him and locked his arms around his knees.

"Well then, how are you going to become the greatest pirate if you don't train and get stronger first?" he asked. "All the pirates in the world are strong, and some of them might be even greater than Captain Shanks, so you'd better get a lot stronger than you are now if you want to find One Piece."

Thinking about this, Luffy looked down at his hat, tracing the edge of the brim with his fingers. He did understand that training would be necessary, so therefore he would train as hard as he could. Hugging the hat tightly before placing it at the foot of his bed, he lay down and snuggled into his pillow.

"Yosh, I'm going to train tomorrow. Good night, Ace."

"Good night, Luffy."

When Ace put out the candle and darkness fell again, Luffy opened his eyes again.

"Ace, do you think I'll find One Piece?"

Ace snorted and made a yawning sound. "No way. You're way too short to find it."

Frowning, Luffy was about to ask his brother ifbeing tall was an important part of being a pirate, when he heard the sound of snoring coming from the other side of the room. He sighed and wrapped his blanket tighter around him. Tomorrow was the day he would start his training. The training that would take him one step closer to his grand adventure.

After breakfast the following day, Luffy walked away from the village until he came to a small forest, in which he knew the bigger kids had built a secret hideout where they used to train and fight when they weren't in school. Ace had shown it to him a few weeks earlier, on his seventh birthday, and had also made him promise not to go there on his own. But he wasn't on his own, was he? Luffy patted the straw hat on his head, which still was a bit too big for him since it kept falling down over his eyes. Nope, he wasn't alone. Hat was with him, and that had to count as something.

Once he reached the secret hideout, he couldn't hold back an excited laugh. There were lots of fun and interesting things in the hideout, but he was only interested in the things the other kids used to train with. Like the big bag of hay hanging from a tree, which was painted to look like the school's only teacher, or the weights made from rocks and wooden sticks. But first, he reminded himself, he had to warm up. Ace had told him that if he didn't warm up before he trained, he could get badly injured, so therefore, Luffy tried to think of how he could warm up before training.

Looking down at his hands, he opened and closed them and smiled. He wondered how far he could stretch his arm. Up till now, he had basically only used his rubber body to amuse the other kids in the village or helping his mother with the chores, but he hadn't really tried if the stretching could be used in any other way.

Looking around, he found a good target to practice on. A large rock about fifteen meters away was the perfect thing to aim at. He clenched his fist and focused on the rock for a moment before he thrust his arm forward and let it fly towards the target. The arm stretched and stretched, and Luffy was really excited over how fast it flew forward, when his fist suddenly hit the rock dead on and ricocheted back towards him.

Eyes widening, Luffy didn't have the chance to duck, and was hit straight in the face by his own punch. As he lay on the ground and felt the world stop spinning around him, he could hear Shanks laughing all the way from his ship out on the ocean. Shaking his head, Luffy sat up and found his hat lying on the ground next to him. Putting it back on his head, he once again focused on the rock, but this time, he moved back a few meters.

_Next time I see you, Shanks, you won't be laughing at me,_ he thought with a smile. _Then my punch will really be like a pistol, and I'll be the King of Pirates._

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Hee hee, another story written after midnight. This one has actually been gnawing at my brain for a few weeks, but I just haven't had any reason to write it. _

_**Namibean** - Same here, same here. I nearly cried when reading some parts of the recent arcs, actually. The kick-ass characters do get a lot of attention, which is one of the reasons to why it's so much fun to write about Usopp._

_**FieryKitsune** - You thought it was realistic? Thank you for saying that. _

_**Sulia Shincho** - I also thought that there was no need for dialogue in that one. It was a bit more challenging to write what was being said from Zoro's line of thought instead, but I'm happy with how it turned out._

_**See Saw** - You know, I can really see Zoro stitch up his own wounds. He's just the type of character who would do such a thing. -cringes- Needles, ew... _

_**gothywolfie** - I'll see what I can fo about a Gin filler. I've actually thought about writing something about him, so we'll see what will show up. And I know what you mean about the supporting characters. Johnny and Yosaku did a whole lot of things that were important for the whole storyline of One Piece. They led Luffy and his crew to the Baratie where they found Sanji, and later on, they did not only guide the crew to Cocoyashi, but they alsotried to fight Arlong andkept the villagers from attacking Arlong Park before Luffy and the rest could come and take care of the mermen. Still, they don't get that much credit... It's strange, really._

_**Raikku of the Darkness** - I love your pen name... Anyway, I also like One real thing the best out of the two first stories._


	4. Sunset, sunrise

_I really should stop staying up late... Alright, so I write more when my head is about to slam down onto my keyboard, but still... Anyway, here's another little thing I just wrote..._

_Eto... hai, hai... I'm working on the next The Seventh Guest chapter. It's going to be a long one, so be patient, my darlings. It's already close to twenty pages, and I haven't even finished or started working on it for real yet... But enough about that, enjoy this short little story while you wait._

_Disclaimer can be found in chapter one._

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**Sunset, sunrise**

By KuroKame

He had never seen a sunset before. At least he couldn't remember seeing one in what seemed to be a whole lifetime. The way the setting sun appeared to set the whole sky on fire in its final, grand exit was strangely soothing in a way he never would have thought possible.

A growling voice caught his attention, and he turned his eyes very reluctantly away from the sunset to look at his captain, who was sitting at the bow of the small boat, but he wasn't quite listening to what was being said.

They had left their entire crew behind on that island. None of them had the guts to return to the Grand Line and face the dangers there, despite the enormous reward that waited for them at the other end.

He didn't know where they were headed at the moment. The captain hadn't told him any specific destination, except for the future voyage to the Grand Line, so he was just aiming for the nearest horizon while waiting for the sun to set or an island to appear.

Another fit of coughing shook his body, and he let go of the rudder to cover his mouth with his hands. Once it had passed, and he glanced down at the blood covering the palms of his hands, he could feel his captain looking at him.

He wasn't sure if the reason to why the captain hadn't told him where to go was because he just hadn't decided that yet, or because he simply was waiting. Waiting for the poison to take effect and for his last loyal crewmember to die.

Even if that was true, it didn't really matter. He had sworn to be loyal until death when he joined the clan, and he would keep that promise to the moment he drew his last breath. Therefore, he sat by the rudder, steering the boat towards an unknown destination while fighting the poison that was eating its way through his body.

The sunset dyed the ocean in a fiery orange hue as it touched the west horizon, finally succumbing to the flow of time while sinking towards the death of another day. But the small boat didn't slow down its pace where it aimlessly cruised across the Eastern Blue.

Soon, dawn would break, and with it, a new day would be born from the ashes of the previous. As he looked at his now sleeping captain at the prow of the boat, Gin simply hoped that he would be there to see it. He didn't think he had ever really seen a sunrise either.


	5. His path

Finally got around to write another little piece, this time to get my mind off the math test I had to take today (I just know I failed! -pulls at her own hair-). This one was poking my brain for a good hour before I wrote it down. It's not one of the best stories I've written, but here it is in all its glory!

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**His path  
**By KuroKame

The sound of steel against steel made his skin prickle, as if he was being showered with icy cold water or even tiny pieces of metal each time the swords collided. Still, he didn't move away where he stood outside the restaurant Baratie, watching the ongoing battle while digging his fingernails into the palms of his hands. He didn't know much of swordfights, but he knew who had the upper hand in this one.

"_Taka no Me no… Mihawk… Hawk-eyes Mihawk." _He had repeated the name as Zoro said it to him so that he wouldn't forget it. The man Zoro had been looking for, and the man he had found and challenged. The best swordsman in the world.

Even from the distance, he could see Zoro's movements steadily growing weaker for each cut he received, and it appeared as if he actually was losing.

"What do you seek beyond the strength, young weakling?"

The other swordsman's words seemed to trigger something in Johnny and Yosaku where they were watching the battle from their boat, because they threw themselves forward over the railing, swords drawn and ready for battle.

"Zoro-aniki isn't weak!" they both yelled at the top of their lungs as they leaped away from the boat.

Luffy growled and jumped over to the boat while reaching out his hands towards the bounty hunters. He caught them in midair and pulled them back aboard the ship, ignoring their feeble protests as he held them down with a firm grip around the back of their heads.

"Johnny! Yosaku!" Luffy growled, his eyes still following his battling swordsman while he pushed the two men down against the deck. "Don't interfere! Just watch."

He could feel his body trembling, not because of the effort it took to hold Johnny and Yosaku down, but because he could feel how Zoro was weakening for every second. His swordsman was losing and he could feel it. But he couldn't do anything about it. Interfering would be to break the promise he had made not so long ago, and there was no way he would do that.

This was the path Zoro had chosen, and as long as Luffy still was breathing, he would make damn sure that no one did anything to make his swordsman turn from that path. Even if it meant that he wouldn't have a swordsman once the battle was over…

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_**gothywolfie** - Oh, no it didn't sound like a command at all. I had been thinking of writing a story centered on Gin for a while, but I couldn't think of a storyline... I miss Johnny no Aniki and Yosaku no Aniki as well, I really hope that Oda will bring them back in the future._

_**Sulia Shincho** - Thank you. Exactly, we never got to know if he survived the poison or if he died later on. I hope that we'll find out one day... Actually, I was watching a sunset the other day, and I realized that I never really had seen one before either. I just wish that I'll get to see a sunrise one day._


	6. A story one would love to hear

**A story one would love to hear  
**By KuroKame

Story requested by Morlin.

(**Edit**: I've gone back to edit a few run-ons, but I have my doubts that it will have any effect. I have no idea why QuickEdit insists on adding them everywhere, because I check my stories before I upload them and there are no run-ons there. Let's see if it works now that I've gone through it again.)

A/N: I wasn't sure at first how I was going to write this story. When Usopp has defeated Chuu in the manga, and he realizes that he actually defeated a merman, he falls backwards and lands on the road next to the rice-field (at least I think it's a rice-field…). However, in the anime, he lands in the water of the field instead. As much as I'd love to stay true to the manga, I thought that it would be more interesting to keep him in the water instead.

As I had finished the first draft for the story, I wanted to add something to make the story more interesting, so I added a few paragraphs in a first-person POV, to show how I think Usopp would tell the story of how he defeated a merman all on his own. I hope you're fine with this and that it's not too confusing. Tell me if it is, and I'll try to fix it.

So, on with the story. **Usopp…** Wagoomu!

Hah, made you blink, didn't I? I knew I would. ;3

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_And so, with some help from the Ketchup Star I had invented earlier, I made him think he had killed me. He turned his back on me, ready to return to the base, without even checking if I was still alive or not._

Cold, muddy water was trickling into his ears, and it made him shiver uncontrollably. His clothes were already soaked in the same water, and as he made another attempt to move, his fingers slipped in the sticky mud he was lying in and he sank down on his back once again. This time, he remained still as he looked up at the clouds moving across the sky above him.

_You're calling me a coward? No, no, you're mistaken. It was all a trick, to catch him off guard. And it worked like a charm, don't doubt me on that. I had him exactly where I wanted him, and that was when I attacked._

Usopp wasn't quite sure what had just happened. One second, he had been hiding behind a tree to avoid being hit with by the merman's water-bullets, and the next, he had felt himself pulling out one of his Fire Stars from his bag and sent it flying directly into the face of his enemy without even aiming.

_After a fierce battle face to face, he had me cornered. However, I never feared, and I chose to go with my secret weapon that gave me the opportunity to seek temporary shelter behind some trees to plan my next move. That was when I thought of the idea to use the bottle of rum I swiped from the restaurant we visited to get a cook for our crew. I told you that story before, didn't I? Anyway, I threw the bottle to the merman and broke it with my Lead Star, so that he was completely drenched in the alcohol. _

It wasn't until after he had landed on the ground after hitting the merman over the head with his hammer the first time that he seemed to be aware of what was happening. Then, when he noticed that the merman was getting up again, panic took over and the result was lying there next to him in the field.

_Unfortunately, I had no idea what kind of power his water cannon attack had. I didn't get the time to fish out my Fire Star before the trees to my left suddenly were broken like toothpicks and scattered all over the place did I realize what kind of enemy I was up against._

He was still holding the hammer in a tight grip. His fingers had locked themselves around its handle and wouldn't let go, no matter what. Maybe it was because he feared that his enemy would wake up at any moment.

_I have to admit that in my astonishment over the destruction of the forest, I was incautious and happened to let him know where I was hiding. Thus, I was nearly shot to death by a storm of water-bullets piercing the trees around me. But thanks to my swift moves, I was able to escape without being hit a single time._

Lifting his head out of the water with his neck still trembling from exhaustion and shock, he glanced at the unconscious merman at the other side of the rice-field. He still hadn't moved. Good. No movement was good.

_When he realized that he wasn't going to hit me with his water, the merman came towards me, and he even tore the tree I was standing behind in two to get to me. He thought it would scare me to death, but I kept my cool and said "This battle is over! Did you know rum is flammable?" just before I let my Fire Star fly and saw the flames engulfing him._

He gathered all his strength and managed to sit up. Cold, slippery mud and even a riceplant or two slithered down his back and arms as he pulled up his knees towards him. His eyes never left the merman, fearing that he would see the twitch of a finger or hear a moan that would mean that the enemy was waking up. But the merman didn't move. He lay face-down in the waterlogged rice-field, multiple blackening bulges forming in the back of his head.

_With a scream of pain, the merman turned around and ran back towards the water in the rice-field to put out the fire. I ran after him, searching my bag for a weapon while I ran. The first thing I got hold of was my hammer, which was the perfect tool for that situation._

Usopp still couldn't believe it. He had actually beaten one of the strongest mermen in Arlong's clan. There were no words that could describe the happiness and pride he was feeling. Now he wouldn't have to be ashamed of being a coward anymore, and the others would appreciate what he had managed to do. He wasn't useless, and now he had proven it.

_Just as he jumped into the water, I leaped forward with a roar, twisting my body in the air and so letting my hammer gain force before it slammed into his head, throwing him down into the water again. I, on the other hand, continued through the air and landed on the other side of the rice-patch, where I swiftly turned around to see if my enemy was really down. Of course, I was quickly assured that so was not the case, as the merman moaned and was already getting up from the water._

The others! Usopp gasped and scrambled to his feet, mud and water flying in all directions as he tried to run back through the field to the dirt road that led back to Arlong Park. He had to get back and make sure the others heard about his incredible victory.

_I had no choice but to attack him again and again until he was no longer moving. Once I was certain that he wasn't dead, but still wasn't going to get up and attack me again, I could go back to Arlong Park to team up with my nakama in the final battle._

He tucked the dripping wet hammer into his bag as he stepped up on the road and began running on legs that still claimed to be too exhausted to move. His nakama were waiting back at Arlong Park, and if he was lucky, the fight was already over. After all, three mermen could hardly be too much for Sanji, Zoro and Luffy, could they? Usopp wasn't doubting his nakama, but he still started running faster, leaving only a faint trail ofdust behind him.

_You say you don't believe me? Well, that's entirely up to you, isn't it? But I can assure you, that if you ever go to a small village called Cocoyashi in East Blue, and ask any of the villagers who defeated Arlong and his mermen, I'm sure they'll tell you the truth… Now, what story do you want to hear next? --_

Usopp had the feeling that this was going to be a battle that would become a great story one day. The day Arlong's empire fell. And maybe, just maybe, someone would remember how he alone defeated one of the mermen… Now that would be a story everyone would love to hear.

* * *

_Well, **Morlin**, I hope you liked this story. It's fun to get requests, since it gives me an opportunity to explore parts of the original story I never had thought of exploring before. Thank you for the suggestion._

_**Sulia Shincho** - Actually, I take the dialogue from both themanga and the anime, depending of the situation. Except for Null's scanlations, I only have the Swedish translation of the manga, and the translations can differ quite a lot at some points. But I compare the dialogue in the manga and the anime and choose which one sounds best or fits the situation. A few times, I've simply merged the lines from the manga and the anime if it would make it fit better. It doesn't make it accurate, but it's the best I can do since I don't speak Japanese myself._

_To tell the truth, the last chapter was written a little bit from my own point of view. I know that if I had made a promise on my life that I wouldn't interfere with someone else's choices, but that the person would risk dying if I didn't interfere, I would feel very torn and hardly feel like I didn't know what to do. However, I don't know if I could stand watching my friend (or more importantly, my nakama) die just because of a choice they made._


	7. No way out

**No way out  
**By KuroKame

Suggested by Vespera

Yet another story set during the Arlong arc… I don't know, I guess I like that arc a lot.

--

From her window – to the left on the top floor - she could see him leaving for Cocoyashi. Nami's fingers locked themselves tighter around the handle of the knife she held in her hand while she watched the mermen walk out through the heavy gates. Why were things going wrong all of a sudden? For eight years, she had been infiltrating pirate crews, stealing everything she could come over and then getting the hell away from the ships before anyone noticed. And all of a sudden, probably because of that stubborn idiot of a pirate who just didn't seem to be able to take no for an answer, everything she had worked for was falling to pieces around her.

Was she really that transparent?

The question kept rising to the surface of her mind, and she kept pushing it back. However, each time it appeared in her thoughts, it lingered there a little longer before being pushed aside.

Nami had a pretty good idea who had sent Zoro and Usopp to get her back. It wasn't that hard to figure out, after all. But why had he done that? She had taken the ship that really had been his, since he was the captain of the clan, and all the treasure they (or, well, _she_) had gathered during their short time together. She had betrayed his trust in so many ways, and yet he sent his men – his nakama – to get her back. Of course, it could be because he wanted revenge, and Nami decided to stick with that thought. It was so much easier to just think of it that way, and take away any familiarity that could appear and make everything so much more difficult.

But transparent? No, that couldn't be. Not even Arlong had been able to see through the mask she was forced to wear.

Then why could they see through it just like that? Zoro, who she normally wouldn't give any credit for his intelligence, had clearly seen through her as if she was made of water. Why else would he have tested her like that? And Luffy… He had once seen something within an infamous and feared pirate hunter that made him choose him as his first mate, and the first member of his pirate clan. Would it be impossible to think that he could have seen something within her as well?

No. They shouldn't be there. They were jeopardizing the whole deal with Arlong, meddling in business they never should have known of in the first place. She needed to get another seven million Belli, and the whole island would be free from Arlong's reign. No pirates would ever rob her of the chance of saving the place she loved the most.

Walking out through the door and down the stairs, she headed towards the bottom floor. There was someone waiting in a cell down there, and she knew what she had to do. Her fingers caressed the wooden handle of the knife she still held in a tight grip as she reached the last flight of stairs.

There really was no other way out.

* * *

_I've never written a Nami-centered fic, and I think it shows... Anyway, I hope it wasn't too OOC. :D_

_**Vespera** - It was fun to try a different method of writing, and I think Usopp was the perfect character to try it on, since he has this mask he puts on when he tells his stories, and then there's the fear and the cowardice any human feels at least once in their life. I love Usopp... :3_

_**Sulia Shincho** - Yeah, Usopp really showed that he can be bravein Arlong arc (without hiding behind something and keeping his nakama's backs covered). However, he still needs toremember that true bravery is when you can stand up for the things that matters, even if you're scared to death. People who are fearless all the time are fools._

_I'm aware of the words getting crammed together, but I honestly can't help it. I check my stories before uploading them, just so there are no run-ons, but when I upload the chapter, the words get crammed together anyway. And no matter how many times I try to fix them, new ones get added in their place. So I hope that you can read the stories without going insane from the lack of spaces between some words, because I have no idea how to make it stop adding that..._


	8. The fears of a Hammer

This story turned out a lot longer than I planned... It suddenly made me want to write a story set between the Kobi arc and the Buggy arc... We'll see what happens with that... Anyway, this is just some random story that I thought up while trying to work on my essay about media today for my Social studies class...

**

* * *

**

**The fear of a Hammer**  
By KuroKame

Leaning out over the side of the boat, Luffy watched the shadow of something unknown moving in the dark water below him. He wondered what it could be, and the thought of asking Zoro if he knew what it was flashed through his mind for a brief moment before he remembered that his swordsman had said not to wake him, unless there was an emergency (just in case the sun fell down or if they found an island with mountains of meat and rivers of rum).

Luffy straightened up with a troubled expression on his face and turned towards his first crewmember, who was fast asleep by the rudder. Being the only one awake aboard the boat wasn't fun, but then again, Zoro probably wouldn't count a mysterious underwater creature as an emergency. However, Luffy reasoned, he wouldn't know that for sure before he had tried to wake his swordsman. Besides, who was the captain of this boat anyway?

A split second of incautiousness in his quest to wake Zoro, combined with the coincidence that a strong gust of wind shook the small boat at that exact moment, was all it took for Luffy to lose his footing – again. Feeling the tingle in his stomach as he fell from the ship, he tried to grab the edge of the boat, but it was too late. He hit the water with his back first, and created a huge splash before he went under the surface. It all happened very fast, and he didn't even get the chance to call for Zoro before he sunk.

---

Zoro was brutally awakened when the boat rocked sharply and the rudder suddenly turned and smacked him right across the chest. He was just about to tell Luffy to stop rocking the boat when the boat rocked again, this time closely followed by a splash and then nothing but the whisper of the waves and silence.

"Luffy?" Zoro cracked one eye open and peered towards the other side of the boat, where he desperately hoped to meet the eyes of his captain. Hell, he would even settle with hearing another whining 'I'm hungry…', as long as that splash had been nothing but a fish jumping after bugs by the surface.

No such luck. The boat was hopelessly empty. Zoro quickly got up from his comfortable spot by the rudder.

_Here we go again…_ he thought bitterly before he dove into the clear blue water.

---

Luffy didn't like being under water. He had never liked it at all.

It wasn't just because the ocean made him completely powerless, or because it was dark, wet, cold and full of things that wanted to eat him. No, it was because he always had to be fished out again. Even if Zoro kept telling him that he wouldn't go after him one more time, he knew that his first and only crewmember wouldn't just leave him in the water. He knew, because he knew that he could trust Zoro with his life.

Since Zoro had joined him a few days earlier, Luffy had tried extra hard not to fall into the water. Of course, he _always_ tried really hard not to fall into the water, but from time to time, he simply forgot to be cautious. He really hated that sometimes. That something could catch his attention to the point where he just forgot everything else and only focused on whatever it was he had spotted. Just these past few days, he could remember being fished out of the water at least five times - even if Zoro kept telling him that he must have jumped in after him at least fifty times already.

Being under water was like being in another world. A world where he couldn't move, couldn't hear and couldn't breathe. It was a world where he was easy prey for anything that was somewhat larger than him and had sharp teeth. And he kept returning to that world where he didn't belong, whether he wanted to or not.

While watching the shadows of unknown creatures swim by next to him while he was sinking towards the bottom in that helpless state, Luffy always fought to keep calm. He wasn't the kind of person who would resort to panic very easily, but he really, _really_ didn't like to feel helpless like he did under water.

The thing that really scared him the most about falling into the water was that someone would have to fish him out of it. Because the one fishing him out would have to go down into the water as well, just to get him out of there. He had never told this to anyone because he knew that they wouldn't understand. They wouldn't understand how it felt to be paralyzed by the curse of the Devil's Fruit, and still be clinging to someone for dear life with fingers stiff from the contact with the cold water, fighting to hold back the tears of fear, guilt and relief that threatened to spill down your cheeks and mix with the salty seawater. They wouldn't know what it felt like to realize that the smell of copper you felt really was the smell of blood coming from the very person you were clinging to.

Each time he fell into the sea; each time he looked up towards the gleaming surface to spot the familiar shadow of Zoro as he jumped in after him; each time the pressure of the surrounding water crushed his lungs together, he was afraid. He was afraid that this time would be the time when he would see another shadow approaching them – a larger, much more threatening shadow – and that he, when he was brought up to the surface again, would be clinging to his nakama, burying his face in a white shirt to hide his tears while the smell of blood mixing with seawater once again would be tickling his nostrils. He was afraid that this time would be the time when those words once again would escape his lips after ten years.

"_Your-- your arm…"_

---

_Can't even get some sleep without him falling overboard again…_ Zoro thought as he swam deeper with determined strokes. His eyes darted from side to side while he searched for something that would look like Luffy in the dark water. Who would think that something that glittering and azure blue on the surface could be so dark and dangerous?

There! Just a few meters below him, he spotted Luffy, who was sinking rapidly. Now if he could just keep his eyes on the boy, everything would be fine…

---

Luffy's eyes adjusted quite easily to the dull light coming from the gleaming surface above him, and he could see the dark shapes of fish swimming by in their own quiet world, where he was now intruding. He didn't know how long he had been down there, time seemed to pass in another way below the surface, but his lungs were aching and his head spinning from the lack of oxygen when he finally saw the burst of bubbles by the surface way above his head that told him that Zoro was coming for him. Luffy felt a weight lifting from his stomach, and was sure that he would be fine now, if he only could hold his breath a little longer.

It was when Zoro's dark form was only a couple of meters away from him that Luffy spotted it from the corner of his eye. The large shadow of a creature coming directly towards them through the depths of the dark water, weaving in and out of the shade cast by the pirates and the boat on the surface as it silently drew closer.

Luffy's eyes widened by the sight of the huge creature coming closer and closer at a greater speed than Zoro, and he tried to scream _"Zoro, watch out!"_ to alert his swordsman of the danger that threatened them both. But all that left his mouth was a feeble gargling sound, and a myriad of bubbles rising towards the surface. He could see the pale light from the surface reflected in at least a hundred sharp, pointy teeth at the same time he felt a hand grabbing his arm. The next thing he knew, an arm was wrapped around him just as another reflection of light flashed before his eyes and the clear water was suddenly colored deep red.

Had he been able to move properly, Luffy would have turned around, just to find out where the blood in the water had come from. But for now he had to give in to the power the water had over him, and wait.

They broke the surface right next to their boat after a short while, Zoro with a deep gasp for air, and Luffy with a gargling coughing fit. As soon as he felt the fresh air enter his lungs, Luffy turned his eyes towards Zoro, afraid of what he might see. But when he turned around, he couldn't see any blood by the surface, and there was no thick smell of copper. Just Zoro with a drawn, white-hilted katana in his left hand above the surface, where it wasn't going to accidentally hurt either of the two men.

"What the hell?" Zoro snapped, still panting lightly as he pulled Luffy closer to avoid dropping him while trying to regain his orientation. Not that it helped that much. "This is the sixth time I jump in after you today. I can't take my eyes off you for even a minute before you end up in the water again, you moron. Didn't even get the time to leave my katana in the boat…"

Zoro reached out for their boat and pulled it towards them so that he could throw Luffy over the edge and into the vessel.

"I swear," he said, not sounding so angry anymore. "If my katana rusts because of you, you'll pay for them in blood, _Captain_."

He threw something over the side of the boat, and it landed on the bottom with a short, metallic clang. Luffy pulled himself up from the bottom of the boat and looked at the white-hilted sword lying there, still covered in red dots of watery blood. He turned his eyes towards Zoro, who just pulled himself out of the water and into the boat, still muttering to himself, and grinned.

"Sorry, Zoro."

Zoro stopped muttering and sank down by the rudder again. He looked at Luffy, and sighed in defeat as he wrung some of the water out of his shirt, emptied the white sheath of another gallon-or-so of the clear liquid and settled down, now looking for a dry towel to wipe the water off his katana.

"Yeah, yeah, just be more careful. I'm not jumping in after you again today… I can hardly remember what it feels like to be dry."

Luffy nodded. Now, he realized that everything had changed. He didn't have to be afraid of being under water anymore, because there would always be someone there to watch his back now, no matter what.

There would always be moments where he would be helpless on his own; moments where someone or something overpowered him to the point where he couldn't handle it alone. That meant that he would have to work harder and be strong enough to get himself and everyone around him out of the situations where he _wasn't_ helpless. How else could he be the man who was going to be the King of Pirates?

Speaking of which… Luffy looked around, his hand grasping at his black hair. He met Zoro's eyes as a horrible fact dawned on him. A fact much more horrible than any thought of hungry sea creatures ever could be. A fact so horrible that he couldn't hold back a faint cry at the mere thought of it.

"My hat! My hat is gone!"

---

At the other end of the boat, Zoro sighed again and put away his katana. So this was how he would spend the rest of his time until he became the greatest swordsman in the world? He dove into the water for the seventh time that day, not because he had to, but because he could sense how important that tattered old hat was to Luffy. He didn't know the reason to why it was so important, and he really didn't care, as long as he could bring it back to his newfound nakama in one piece.

After all, he thought to himself, being dry was overrated.


	9. A simple choice

_Haah... I can't wait for Christmas. My teachers are driving me insane right now, and I can hardly write to ease my mind a little between homework and sleep. But Christmas will come and then I don't have to worry about school for two whole weeks! -celebrates-_

_Anyway, on with this new story. I think there was a disclaimer in the first chapter, ne? If there are any words crammed together in the text, please try to ignore them, I can't do anything about them, unfortunately ..._

**

* * *

A simple question**  
By KuroKame

"Ne… Shanks?"

The captain of the Red-hair pirate clan barely stifled a sigh when he turned to face the big-eyed boy to his right. He had been answering strange questions all morning, just like every morning when they visited this particular town, and even his usually infinite patience was starting to run out. Still, he grinned cheerfully as he met the questioning look in the boy's eyes.

"Yeah, Luffy," he said, reaching out the grab a few pieces of fried bacon from the boy's plate. "What is it?"

Luffy frowned when some of his bacon disappeared, but he didn't protest. He put down his knife and fork on the counter and gave Shanks what had to be the sternest look the captain had ever seen.

"When you're a pirate, you kill people, don't you?"

It sounded like such a simple question, but it made every single person in the tavern turn around to look their way.

Shanks looked at Luffy for a brief moment. The boy had come in through the door to the tavern only a few minutes after the pirates had settled down to eat their breakfast, like he always did every morning when the crew was in town, and ever since Makino had placed his first breakfast plate on the counter, Luffy had been asking questions about the life of pirates and how strong one had to be to become a pirate. However, Shanks hadn't been prepared to hear this particular question. Luffy hadn't even turned seven yet, and Shanks had to admit that he had thought that the boy was too young to think of that. But now he had been proven wrong, and was facing a troublesome dilemma. Should he tell Luffy the truth or just make something up like he had done the whole morning?

No, making things up in a matter like this was out of the question. Even if Shanks told Luffy that he'd never become a pirate every single day, the captain knew that the boy would go out to sea one day or another, no matter what he said or did, and he simply couldn't bring himself to lie about something that all pirates would have to face sooner or later.

"Well," he began, now reaching for his still half full pint of rum. "I'm not going to lie to you, Luffy… Pirates do kill each other out at sea, but there's always a choice when it comes to killing. Either you choose to do it, or you choose not to do it. Get it?"

"So all pirates don't kill people?" Luffy asked slowly while staring blankly at the empty winebottles on the shelves behind the counter for a moment. Then, he turned back to look at Shanks. "Have _you_ ever killed anyone, Shanks? I mean, like, really killed someone until they were dead for real?"

Shanks could hear the faint _clink_ as Makino nearly dropped a newly washed plate a few meters away. He looked at Luffy while wondering where the boy's sudden interest in death had come from. Behind him, somewhere in the room, he could hear Ben's voice as the first mate calmly asked someone - probably Yasopp and Lucky Lou, judging by the sound of it - to kindly shut up before he--

"_Shanks_!" Luffy had been repeating his name at least four times, each time with a little more force, until he found it necessary to tug at the pirate's sleeve to get his attention.

"Huh?" Shanks blinked once, twice, and even a third time before he remembered what they had been talking about. "Oh, sorry, Luffy. I was just thinking. So, you want to know if I've ever killed anyone, do you?"

"Uh-huh." Luffy nodded so swiftly that Shanks almost waited for the boy's neck to snap.

"… Sure, I've killed a few people," Shanks said carefully, casting a glance at Makino, who was watching them both warily. "We all have, but only when it was the only way to save our own lives." He flicked his hand towards his crew, who had settled down around one of the larger tables to play a very noisy game of poker.

"You see…" he continued, looking at Luffy through the curtains of red hair that stuck our from under the brim of his weatherworn straw hat. "Not everyone fears death, and therefore they aren't going to hesitate to fight until they die, if it means that they can protect something that is precious to them. Some of these people have seen so many horrible things in their lives, so death would be like going to bed one night and just not wake up the next morning. Others… well… some just don't care if they die or not, while others are just too stupid to fear death."

When Shanks had stopped talking, he looked at Luffy, who sat quiet and picked at what was left of his third helping of bacon and eggs while looking very thoughtful. Shanks wondered silently if the boy had understood what he had been trying to say or not.

"So… pirates kill people, but some pirates only kill people when they choose to do it…" Luffy grasped at a tuft of his black hair and screwed up his face in a very strange grimace as he apparently strained his mind to get things right. "And… some pirates don't kill people if they don't have to, because…"

His face suddenly brightened, and he dunked one fist against the palm of his other hand. "… Because there are things thatare worse than death! Right, Shanks?"

Shanks grinned and ruffled Luffy's already tousled hair.

"You got it."

Luffy pulled away from Shanks' rough gesture of affection, but he still beamed at the pirate captain before he went back to eat up the rest of his breakfast.

"When I become a pirate, I'mma not gowna kill people," he mumbled while stuffing the last of his now cold fried eggs into his mouth, chewing twice and then swallowing. "I'm gonna kick their ass and send them flying instead."

For once in his life, Shanks didn't reply. He propped his elbow against the counter and leaned his head against his hand while listening to Luffy's future grand adventure. What could the future really have in store for such a boy, who clearly belonged in the group of people who feared very little in life? Now that was not a simple question.**

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**

_Hmm... I write a lot of storieswith Luffy... I wonder why. Then again, he's fun to write, even though I think I tend to make him seem a little bit too stupid sometimes. Ah well... I really should write something that actually would fit the 'inbetweeners'-theme sometime, eh?_

_**Sulia Shincho** - Ha ha, now that reminds me... I saw Batman Forever a few weeks ago, and towards the final battle, Robin says "Holy rusted metal, Batman!", because the island they landed on is made from rusted metal that has a lot of holes in it... Just something I thought of when I read 'Holy Sonnet Number 9, Batman'...  
A lot of exclamation points? You mean like_ **'omglykmeat!1one!1eighteen!'** _or something like that?I've always thought that one is enough. Maybe two if the writer needs to emphasize what is being said. But other than that, I just find it annoying, so I try not to use too many of them.n-n;  
But Zoro in a wet white T-shirt is okay, then? I actually tried writing that story from only Luffy's POV, but it didn't work out. It turned out really dull and very confusing even for me. I'm glad you liked it:D_

_**Melinda-chan** - Thank you.I'm glad you could read the stories even if you hadn't reached that far in the originalstory-line._


	10. Noise

Eeh... I've never tried to write Robin before... I don't think there's many spoilers in this story, except for Robin herself. At least I hope there aren't...

And... thank you, **Saiyako**, for all the nice reviews. I was to say the least surprised to find nine new messages in my inbox just like that.

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**Noise**  
By KuroKame

Not even the interesting tales in my books can completely shut out the noise around me. Silence is rare aboard this ship, and that seems to be the way they all like it, whether they know it or not.

As I sit here at the aft deck in the shade of the Navigator's miniature orchard while trying to concentrate on the information in the newest addition to my growing collection of rare books, I am glad that the noise is there in the background. Even as I have only been traveling with these pirates for a short time, I have already grown accustomed to their ways, and I think I would be feeling very uneasy if there was to be a longer period of silence.

Judging by the occasional crashes and all the shouting, it seems like the Captain once again managed to lure his friends into another game. I still have to figure out if the rest of them are aware of the fact that they end up playing along with him even if they do not want to.

Flipping a page in my book, I already know that I stopped reading several minutes ago. The sound of their voices has already broken my concentration, and I can help that I feel a bit curious to know what they are doing. Putting down my book, I decide that I should get a glass of water to ease the feeling of dehydration that has settled in my body. It seems like only minutes had passed since I sat down here, when several hours have passed since morning.

Every day, I observe everything around me. It is something I do to survive. When I find a puzzle, I cannot rest until I have solved it, just like I cannot feel at ease until I have found out exactly what I need to know about a person. It is a necessity if I am to find the True History.

However, I have not been able to solve the puzzle that is this band of pirates, even though I have been observing them closely for two weeks now. I have not been able to find out how six so very different persons can work together like they do. Their ways of communication are completely different from any other group I have ever seen.

What I do know is that they have found something that they have in common, even if I have yet to find that out myself.

Their group is a mystery, and yet… When I tried to gain their trust in the beginning of our journey together, I thought that I had figured them all out. Once the Captain agreed to let me go with them, I could easily gain the crew's trust… Well, maybe except for the Swordsman, but I do have a feeling that he will not trust anyone that easily. However, I can never be certain when it comes to this crew.

I walk down the stairs towards the main deck, watching as the Captain rockets himself across the ship while both the Cook and the Swordsman chase him, clearly enraged by some reason. But the Captain simply laughs and continues to fly across the deck, grabbing hold of ropes and railings to gain momentum for the next change of direction.

One would not have to be clairvoyant to predict that this game will end with someone diving into the ocean to save our Captain from a certain death, but that seems to be the last thing on their mind right now. I guess that is why I decide to let them be and head for the kitchen after sending out a line of arms to grab hold of the Captain's foot so that he will not fly too far away from the ship. His cheerful voice calling out 'Thanks, Robin!' before I let him fly in the opposite direction causes a smile to appear on my lips before I enter the warm, empty cabin to get my glass of water.

When I return to my chair and my book in the shade of the tangerine trees, the last thing I hear before I am caught by the interesting story again is a surprised 'Oops!' and a distant splash of water, shortly followed by five other voices calling out the Captain's name and another splash as someone dives after him.

Somehow, they manage to be noisy in everything they do. Maybe that is why I feel so at ease around them. Because none of them will silently sneak up on me to stab me in the back…

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0-o That wasn't too pointless, I hope... 


	11. Fall

**Fall  
**by KuroKame

A scream of pain echoed shortly before it disappeared into the howling snowstorm, and he experienced a moment of weightlessness, with only the wind supporting his body before gravity made itself known. Through his barely conscious mind, he could feel the cold wind against his back and the snowflakes stinging as they collided with the bare skin in his neck and under his chin. However, that pain was nothing against the throbbing in his torso.

The ground, hard and impossible to miss, was coming closer and closer below him, rocks probably hidden beneath the snow that looked almost thick enough to break his fall.

His entire body felt as if someone had twisted him in two different directions, in some sick attempt to turn him into one of those stupid balloon animals one of the chefs back at the Baratie had made whenever it was a kid's birthday.

His back hurt, his arms and legs hurt, his head hurt… Hell, even his cigarette hurt, and he had lost that before the avalanche. But in the middle of all that pain, he still felt strangely calm and at ease. By doing what he had done, he knew that he had made sure that Nami wasn't hurt. If he had died, he wouldn't have had any regrets. Except for the fact that he never got to find All Blue, of course…

He had been more than just a little bit surprised when the thick, hard packed snow that surrounded him and was about to choke him to death broke, and he was pulled out from under the icy shell. There hadn't been enough strength in him to give Luffy any sign that he was alive, but the transparent puffs of cloud caused by his shallow breath in the cold must have been enough for his captain, because the last thing he remembered before passing out again was Luffy's arm wrapped a little too tight around his chest.

The next thing he remembered was that echoing cry of pain, and the feeling of his jacket fluttering in an icy cold wind that never seemed to stop blowing. And then the feeling of weightlessness, and the fall.

"SANJI!"

His ears registered the voice calling his name as it came closer, and all of a sudden, the sinking feeling in his stomach stopped. He could feel something pulling at his jacket, and then there was a rough jerk that nearly snapped his spine in half. The pain that seared out into his body was almost unbearable, but Sanji couldn't find the energy to scream. He heard loud, wheezing breaths somewhere above him, mixed with the sound of grinding teeth and the light twang of rubber stretching and relaxing as he bobbed up and down in midair.

It didn't take long before Luffy had pulled him back up to wherever he had fallen from. Before Sanji slipped back into the darkness of unconsciousness, he looked up and caught a glance of Luffy's face. The determination in the captain's eyes was all he needed to see to feel assured that they would be alright.

After all, his and Nami's lives were in the hands of the man who was going to be the king of the pirates. What could be more assuring than that?


	12. Her strength

_I don't know if this is any good. I'm kind of rusty, since I haven't really written anything in months. But I decided that I should at least write **something**, and this is the result. It'sa story thatcame from thin air just before midnight, andas stated before,I don't know if it's any good._

_Could be seen as a **slight spoiler** for those who are unfamiliar to recent events involving the Going Merry..._

**

* * *

**

**Her strength  
**by KuroKame

Aboard the Going Merry, the caravel born outside Syrup Village that had just set out on her very first and grandest adventure, there were very few moments of complete silence. The motley crew had the strange ability to be noisy in everything they did, even in their sleep. Many nights, the male crewmembers wouldn't stop arguing with each other even as the clock in the galley struck midnight, or one or even three in the morning.

But she would listen to them, and she would smile deep inside. Once they had left the last island, prepared and with the five-man crew the captain had decided would be enough for their last journey on the Eastern Sea - the journey to the Grand Line - she had felt that the bond that held their crew together had become much stronger than before.

And the bond that tied her to the rest of them was gaining strength for each passing day.

She would listen patiently to stories told over and over again about where she came from, and about Kaya, who had made it possible for them to travel together like this. She listened to stories of the things done together with the kids back home, and about the lies told to Kaya to cheer her up. And while she listened to this, she smiled and wished that she could have been there as well.

She silently listened to the scratching of a quill against paper, sometimes long after the sun had disappeared below the horizon. And as she could hear the determination and pride in each drawn line on each new map that took form, she wished for the same feelings to guide her in the right direction as well.

She watched in awe as weights that looked heavy enough to break her if handled carelessly were swung to and fro with perfectly timed control and strength, and she wished that she could have a fragment of that strength in her as well.

She felt the wonderful scents of food prepared with skill and imagination every day, and listened with great amusement to the sounds of talk and laughter as the crew gathered around the table. But as the meals were eaten and the crew had scattered to do other things, she was perfectly happy just to listen to the legend of the sea where fish from all over the world gathered one more time while feeling the faint smell of tobacco dance with the wind around her. And she wished that she would get to see that ocean as well.

She would listen to the stories about another pirate crew, a crew and a captain far mightier and greater than any other seen in the Eastern Sea. She would look at the frayed straw hat, and remember the story of the promise made on that same hat, a story she had heard the first night the captain had been on watch, and she wished that she could let him know that she would like to make a promise on that hat as well.

A promise to be there for them; a promise to be strong and determined, even in moments of grave danger - a promise to see each sunrise and each sunset together with them for as long as she possibly could.

--

Aboard the Going Merry, the caravel who now barely remembered where she had been born anymore, there were very few moments of complete silence. She was indeed out on her grandest adventure, but she had also realized that nothing can go on forever.

Down in the cabin below deck, the male crewmembers still argued through the nights, and their female counterparts would sigh and stuff a few more pillows against the small hatch in the wall before going to sleep. But Merry would listen to them, and smile deep inside, as she always did.

She had listened to them all for a long time, and she had watched as they had struggled to heal her injuries after each tough battle against stronger and stronger enemies. But once they had fallen from the skies, she had noticed how they all, in the middle of a story or a carefully drawn grid of lines or just a long, comforting silence, would reach out their hand to run their fingers over the fading paint on her railing or one of the patched walls and ask her:

"How much longer, Merry? How much longer can you go on?"

And she would answer, not to their ears but to their hearts:

_A little longer. I don't know where we're going, but I'll take you there safely._

After each day, they would go to sleep, leaving one or two to keep watch, not aware of even half of the decay slowly eating away at her aching body. A wave hitting the wrong place would easily create the wrong kind of tension, which had resulted in more than one cracked plank in her hull. But she would take care of it.

The next morning, that leak in the corner that no one had noticed yet would be fixed without anyone ever learning about it. And the badly mended railing on the port side would be stabilized without anyone finding out how it had been done.

She did it because she loved them, because of the promise she had made so long ago, and because her nakama were her treasure.

She had been strong for so long, and now she was determined to bring her precious treasure to shore one more time - no matter what happened to her after that. Until then, there would be at least one more sunrise to watch together with them.


	13. All in a day's work

... Wow. It's been a while since I updated anything nn; I started writing this some months ago, and I wanted to finish it. I think you can see where I picked up writing it, because I haven't really written anything in a long, long while. Anyway, on with the story.

* * *

**All in a day's work**  
by KuroKame 

"Yo, Usopp, what are you doing?"

The marksman raised his currently idle right hand in the air in an attempt to silence his captain without taking his eyes off the experiment he had been working on since the crack of dawn.

"I'm conducting a very important experiment, Luffy," he replied slowly, as he reached for a vial filled with a purple, opaque liquid. "I need to get it done before the sun sets. Sunlight is very important in this experiment."

"Oh…" Luffy sat down in front of his marksman, legs crossed as he looked down at the many vials and instruments carefully placed out around him. "What's that purple stuff?"

"Grand Line Jelly Fish extract," Usopp replied. His hands trembled as he now attempted to pour only one single drop of the purple liquid from one vial to the other. "If I'm right, this would make my Tabasco Stars even more effective. Now shut up for a moment, will you, I have to concentrate."

"Okay," Luffy clasped his hands over his mouth. But not many seconds had passed before something else caught his attention, and he leaned over to pick up a strange instrument that was placed in a corner of the box dubbed "Usopp's Workshop". But as he straightened up again, his elbow bumped into Usopp's arm, causing the marksman to pour more than half the jelly fish extract into the other vial.

"Oops," They looked at each other, and then turned their gaze towards the vial in Usopp's hand, which had begun glowing and vibrating. The next moment, the glass tube exploded, covering both boys in a sticky, reddish purple substance.

"Dammit, Luffy!" Usopp yelled, wiping the goo from his eyes. "I don't have the time to start over now…"

Luffy simply laughed, and jumped to his feet. And with a big grin and a quick "Sorry, Usopp!" he ran off towards another part of the ship.

--

"… and that, Luffy, is the theory of relativity, and how it can be used to explain the meaning of life."

Nami turned back to her still unfinished map over the last island they had visited, muttering something about why the captain even wanted to know such a thing, or where on earth he could have picked up such a strange topic to begin with.

"Hmm…" The confused look on the captain's face suddenly faded, and he dunked his fist against his palm, now grinning widely. "I get it. It's a Mystery Thing."

Nami groaned leaned her head against the palms of her hands. She should have known that it was a waste of time to try to explain such a complicated thing in the first place. With a wave of her hand, she once again turned back to her map as Luffy began walking towards the door, seemingly satisfied with the answer to his question.

"Yes, Luffy," Nami said exasperatedly. "It's a mystery--! Ah!"

What had been meant to be a casual, dismissing wave of her hand accidentally turned into a somewhat uncontrolled whirl of her whole arm, which resulted in knocking the little bottle of ink off the table, onto a pile of newly drawn maps.

Luffy turned around in the doorway as his navigator cried out in surprise.

For a moment, Nami and Luffy stared silently at the black pool of ink spreading over the maps on the floor.

Then, Nami felt her body starting to tremble, and it was with a great effort that she managed to keep her voice down to a level where she wouldn't be shouting.

"Luffy…" she said menacingly, rising from her chair and slowly making her way towards the captain standing in the doorway.

The reply she received was not one that helped improving her mood. Luffy laughed and leaned lightly against the doorpost for support. The look on his navigator's face made him quiet down a little, but he still grinned as he said:

"Sorry Nami. Want me to clean it up?"

"No, Luffy," Nami said quickly, shuddering as an image of Luffy attempting to clean up the pool of ink from the floor entering her mind. "Just-- Just go somewhere else, I'll take care of this…"

"Okay!" Luffy said as he turned around in the doorway again and stepped out on the deck. "Later, Nami!"

The navigator sighed deeply as she turned back to the black mess on the floor. Eight maps of the surrounding islands destroyed in a matter of seconds. Oh, that captain would be paying for this for the next three life-times…

--

_22031… 22032… 22033… 22__--_

Zoro halted in the middle of his 22034th vertical swing of the gigantic weights at the stern of the ship and turned his head up and to the left to face what had begun to really irritate him.

"What do you want, Luffy?" he asked, a mildly annoyed tone slipping into his voice.

"I was just thinking," came the reply from the straw hat-clad boy who had perched himself on top of the ship's cabin in the shade beneath the tangerine trees.

When Luffy didn't say anything else, the swordsman sighed and turned back to his training. He wasn't in the mood to be watched or annoyed today, and wished that the Captain would get bored and go to do something else.

_22034… 22035… 22036… 22037…_

"Ne, Zoro?"

Apparently, such a wish was not meant to be fulfilled.

"Yeah?"

_22038… 22039…_

"How much does those weigh, anyway?"

Zoro made another pause and turned to look up at Luffy again.

"What?" he said, as he hadn't been paying much attention to what had been said.

Luffy chuckled.

"I asked you how much those weights actually weigh," he repeated, pointing at the weights in Zoro's hands.

"I don't know," Zoro replied, raising the weights again. By now, all hope of Luffy going away was gone, and the swordsman decided to just focus on his training instead of wishful thinking. After all, he had to make at least 30 000 vertical swings and another 35 000 horizontal swings before lunch.

_22040… 22041…22042…_

Up by the tangerine trees, Luffy leaned forward, as if to inspect the weights even closer.

_22043… 22044… 22045…_

"They look really heavy," he muttered, mostly to himself. "They have to weigh at least 100 kilo…"

_101__… 102… 103… 1--_

Zoro halted again, staring blankly into space for a short moment before he lowered the weights and groaned.

"Agh, Luffy," he growled, turning to his captain. "You made me lose count again!"

Luffy grinned and pushed back his hat over his black hair.

"Sorry, Zoro," he said, still grinning as he jumping down from the trees onto the deck and disappeared down the stairs on the port side with a "See ya!".

Zoro sighed deeply and shook his head before going back to his training once again.

_1… 2… 3…_

--

Slowly, slowly… One foot in front of the other, as silently as possible. The target was so close, almost within reach. Two more steps, one more. He could almost feel the coldness of the steel handle against his fingers when he was thrown back with a footprint-shaped mark in his face. Tumbling back, he hit the left wall head-first, and sank down onto the floor with a somewhat dazed look in his eyes.

The person responsible for the sudden attack stood over him, hands in his pockets and an annoyed frown on his face.

"I have told you a thousand times already. No snacking before lunch, damn it."

"Sorry, Sanji," Luffy whined as he rolled over on one side to get to his feet again. "I'm just so hungry…"

The look Sanji gave him showed no sign of him considering to allow Luffy any food before lunch was ready. The captain whined again, but this time the cook put his foot down.

"Lunch is ready in fifteen minutes. You'll survive until then. Now get out of my kitchen."

Luffy sighed and began to slowly move towards the door. Sanji watched him warily from the corner of his eye as he turned back to the stove to save the soup from getting over cooked.

The very familiar sound that could only come from one of Luffy's limbs stretching and snapping back into place suddenly reached his ears, and he spun around just in time to see the captain bolting out from the galley with one of the fried chickens Sanji had intended to save for dinner that day in his arms. He had foolishly thought that they would be safe to cool on top of the refrigerator before he could put them inside it and lock the door.

"Oi!" the cook called out, and ran after the thief. "You shitty thief, get back here!"

When he came out from the galley, there was no trace of Luffy or the chicken. There wasn't even a sound that could hint in which direction the captain had gone.

"Haah…" Sanji sighed and ran his fingers through his blond hair. "Oh well, I'll take care of that later."

--

On the foredeck, beneath a large parasol to shield her from the icy sprays of sea water and the rays of the sun, sat Nico Robin absorbed in a book. From her position, she could see Sanji walking back into the galley and closing the door behind him.

Robin lowered her book and looked out over the now seemingly empty ship. She waited a moment, and then she turned towards the figure head.

"The coast is clear, Captain-san," she said softly. "You can come up now."

She pulled up the twelve arms she had created to conceal Luffy below the railing by Merry's figure head, and the captain bounced up onto the deck.

"Thanks, Robin," he said with a grin.

"Don't mention it," Robin said, returning the smile. "I hope you didn't irritate the others too much now.

Luffy chuckled and took a bit out of one of the chicken's legs.

"It's all in a day's work," he said happily. Then, he climbed up on the figure head to finish the cold chicken. After all, doing his job as the captain of the Straw Hat crew always made him hungry.

* * *

oo; I forgot Chopper. Oh well, I can't think of any way to irritate him anyway. Let's pretend he was in the crow's nest talking to seagulls or something oo; 


End file.
